Hurrah for Cla!!

I got a call back about my interview yesterday. I was offered the job at the Optometrist's office! I went by there to check out their scrubs so I would know what to purchase, then I went into town and got my new uniforms! SH will be so happy because on Tuesdays, we wear BAMA scrubs. hehe. The place is really pretty and everone on staff there seems really sweet. During my interview yesterday, the doctor had some patients to see so I spent an hour or so hanging out with the other employees. They showed me around and let me sit in with a few patients. That is the most computerized office I have seen in some time. It sure beat the crap of the other eye place I recently worked at. We will not mention the name, but you can find it if you read through some other posts. Anyway, I start Monday and am pumped. I won't be teching, I will be working in the Optical dispensary for now. I don't have much experience with glasses but I do know some basics so I am sure it will come easily to me. YAY JOB!!!

On Monday, I decided to go into town and do a little shopping. I had to make a pit stop at the yarn store to see and touch all the yummy yarns. While I was there I made the decision (Mother of Purl, you are gonna love this) to try knitting. The owner suggested I start with a thick yarn and a simple scarf to get me going. I guess I had delusions of grandeur when I said "how hard would it be to go from crocheting to knitting socks?" I was a little disappointed that they didn't have ANYTHING in the way of crochet books. I got everything home (after a long wait downtown because the battery in the truck died, another long story) and tried to figure this knitting stuff out. I am still quite confused, but I have done several rows on something that could actually end up being a scarf. At this point I am having trouble keeping the thread high enough up on the needle for the next stitch. I think I have the cast on, knit stitch and purl stitch down though. I have got to get a library card sometime soon so I can see what the TTown library has in the way of knitting/crocheting books. I just hope my crochet stuff doesn't get too jealous!!

Here is the yarn I got.

This is my progress so far.

On a bit of a sad note, SH's parents went out of town for a few days and when they returned, Noah wasn't there. This was on Monday. Still no Noah as of last night. Yesterday morning I was standing in the kitchen and something caught my eye outside. I saw a black cat with white feet playing on the hill. It was chasing a butterfly. It looked exactly like Noah. I had to think to myself, you did see that right? I went outside for a better look but couldn't see it through all the tall grass. I kept looking and after a little while, I saw the grass move and eventually saw the cat. I whistled and called for it, but it acted as if it didn't hear me. It then turned and walked away. I am still wondering, did I see that cat? Was it Noah? Why didn't it respond to my calls? Was it his spirit saying goodbye? Or was it simply a cat that looked a lot like Noah?

Northport Lapghan

I started a blanket for us to use in our new house. I did one similar to this for a friend's wedding gift. She absolutely loved it. I used LionBrand Homespun in Meadow.

Pattern:

With a N hook, make a chain as long as you want the blanket to be. Hdc in the 2nd chain from hook. Hdc across. Turn, ch 2, hdc across in back loops only. At the end of each row, I hdc'd in both loops for the last stitch. Continue rows of hdc in back loops until lapghan is as long as you want. I finished the first blanket with 2 rows of dc around. I love the ridge effect hdc'ing in the back loop creates.

Lazy Blogger

I have been pretty slack in my Blog upkeep lately. I am still getting adjusted to the new house and a different way of doing things. I haven't spent much time on my caveman laptop lately. This computer seems to get slower and slower every day. I don't have the patience to wait for things to load.

I finally took a few pictures of the house as well as a few pictures of what I did with our front windows. We have two sidelights around the front door. They are simple glass windows that allow everyone who drives or walks by a complete and unobstructed view inside our house. I do not like that one bit. I originally wanted sidelight curtains but we were unable to find them. Then I wanted to do a glass treatment that made them look like stained glass, Gallery Glass. We finally found the Gallery Glass stuff at Michaels and I pondered the pattern to use. After thinking about numbers, measurements and other mind numbing things, I decided to freehand. Nothing had to be exact. I went with a vine pattern. It turned out so good! If you don't know anything about Gallery Glass, it is a "paint" that when dry, looks like stained glass. They even have "leading" strips that you can peel and stick, or you can make your own lines with the liquid version. I used the leading as the vine and the outer edges of leaves. I filled in the leaves with clear. When the clear dried, it looks like wavy glass. I intended on "etching" the remaining glass to make the panels completely opaque, but liked the look of just the vines. Immediately following the start of the Gallery Glass, my mil offered to make sidelight curtains if we sent her the fabric and measurements. Now we have the vine pattern with pretty green curtains to further obstruct prying eyes. We absolutely love the way it turned out.

Our new little house!!

Sidelight

Sidelight curtains (thanks S!!)

We saw The Happening this afternoon. Meh. It was a good movie but wasn't as scary as I anticipated. It also didn't have the usual M. Night Shyamalan twist like I expected.

We are planning on having a garage sale tomorrow in the hopes of unloading lots of useless stuff we have acquired over our last 15 years. I wish we had done this before the move! I just hope it doesn't rain. It is already drizzling out....fingers crossed! Once we clean out the garage from the garage sale, I will be able to park in it. Pretty cool. SH built shelves to put all our garagey stuff on and they look great. The rest of the house has pretty much fallen into place.

I have been sending in resumes on a daily basis. Hurry up people, I am waiting on your calls for interviews!!! I think a lot of these places won't give me a second look since they know I have a college education. Apparently this means they will have to pay me more. Ummmmm, hello. I wouldn't have sent in a resume to apply for the job if I wasn't interested.

Home Sweet Home

We are finally in Northport! We packed up the UHaul last Wednesday and left Troy Thursday at the crack of dawn. We made it here safe and sound and had everything unloaded by 2 in the afternoon. SH's parents were a BIG help. We have spent the past few days unpacking, arranging and getting stuff together for a yard sale. We had so much stuff that we never used! I really don't want to have to do a yard sale, but I want the cash. :) Our first night here was quite eventful. After spending hours unpacking boxes and putting things away, we decided to go out back and hang out for a while. SH decided to step inside for a minute, but he couldn't get inside. The door had locked! Apparently we didn't know the trick for the door. DOH! We were both locked out in our pjs at midnight. Oh joy. We remembered that earlier in the day, SH's parents met one of our new neighbors. This guy had locked himself out and was waiting on a locksmith. Remembering this, SH went down to neighbor's house (in his pjs) to use his phone. Neighbor called the locksmith and as SH waited with the neighbor, I stayed in the garage and broke down boxes and straightened up. While we were all waiting for the locksmith, neighbor locked himself out of his house AGAIN. DOH!! The locksmith finally arrived and we told him that although we were in our pajamas, it could have been worse. He said that he had picked a few locks for people in worse predicaments than us. I couldn't imagine how embarrasing that would be. We finally got back in the house and crashed. First thing the next day we had keys made.



Our other event happened earlier in the day. I went out in the garage and heard rain. I looked out the side door expecting to see rain, but it was completely dry. The dripping was coming from a pipe in the ceiling of the garage. The water was landing right on the hood of SH's truck. I yelled into the house that SH may want to come out and see this. We had just moved the washer/dryer a little while before so we thought maybe we had done something with a pipe. We couldn't figure out why there was water coming from a pipe in the ceiling. While SH was at neighbor's house waiting on the locksmith, he asked about it. Neighbor said that it was an emergency relief valve to the AC unit. Apparently our house had been closed up since winter and when we turned the AC on, the unit froze up and this dripping was from that. I turned the AC to a non-freezing temperature and the dripping eventually stopped. Whew, disaster averted.



We are returning to Troy tomorrow to clean the house and ready it for showing. Not fun. I hope it sells soon.



Now that we officially moved, working out is going to have to become a priority again. It had fallen to the wayside while preparing for the move. Both SH and I are going to board the workout wagon and get back into shape. I have taken almost a month off and can feel it.

Moving

We have finally decided to make the change and move! SH has been offered a job in Tuscaloosa and we are getting out of Dodge!! This weekend we will meet with realtors in the hopes of finding a rental house in our price range that ALSO allows pets. We likely won't be able to take all five, just the dogs. The cats will probably have to live with SH's parents until we can purchase a house in the next year to year and a half.

All of our friends give the same response when we tell them we are moving. First they are excited about it, they all know it is something we want. Then they realize that this means we will be far away from them and not be seeing them as often, and they are sad. It is so bittersweet. We have known many of these people since we were in college and have watched several of them grow up. We just hope all the advice and love we have given out over the years sticks with them.

We have been boxing up all the crap we have managed to accumulate over the 12 years we have lived here. It is amazing how much we have! We had to clean out our storage shed to make room for our packed boxes since we don't have room in the house to store them.
It is going to be expensive to move and I worry about it every day, but we will make it....somehow. I have been looking for jobs in the area every day and have sent in several applications, but it is more difficult when you live 3 hours away! I pray I can find something quickly. I am going to get in touch with some of the boutiques and wedding planners there in town to see if they would like to carry my jewelry or use me as a vendor for custom orders. That would be wonderful. I am going to wait until we get there so I can discuss this in person with the owners.

I haven't been crocheting much since we found out we are moving. I had finished several small projects for friends. I am trying to deplete my stash so we won't have to move it. I am doing my best to resist the urge to buy more until we move. There are 3, count em THREE places I can buy yarn in Tuscaloosa, as opposed to 1 here in town. We are moving up in the world!

I tried my hand at a few more batches of jelly, half worked, half didn't. I think the first batch was a case of beginners luck. The ones that didn't work never set. They were the consistency of honey. I was so mad. I wasn't about to rebatch it. In all I have made Habanero, Jalapeno and Triple Pepper Jellies. The Habanero was spicy but not too hot, the jalapeno was very mild and a little smokey. The Triple Pepper Jelly hasn't been tasted yet, but I know it will be yummy.

Habanero Jelly!!!

Yesterday marked my first attempt at canning. I made Habanero Jelly! A friend gave us a bag of Habanero peppers and I knew that we wouldn't possibly be able to consume them all. I thought about it for a bit and remembered tasting Habanero jelly a few years ago. It was hot but still sweet, perfect for cream cheese and crackers. I bought all the necessary accoutrement and after reading and rereading everything I could get my hands on, decided to give it a whirl. I remembered visiting my Oma as a child and seeing her basement filled with canned veggies. They had a large garden and she canned almost everything that came out of it. I just don't remember ever watching the process. I was worried that my little experiment wouldn't work out but it seems that all the jars have sealed. That means I have done something right! I am patiently impatiently waiting for SH to get home so we can taste test the inagural batch.

Taste test results:

The jelly turned out to be delicious. YAY ME!!! I am so pleased with my first attempt. I should have made more than 6 jars! I think I have a new idea for gifts this year. :)

Here, have a bite.

Its a zoo around here

I recently started making amigurumi animals for all the babies in my life. Here is the lineup. They are so cute and most are fast to create. I am still having some trouble with attaching limbs and such, but each one shows improvement in my ability.

Sara Tonin. Pattern here.

Gobbles the Bear. Pattern here.

Betty the Bunny. Pattern here.

Angel Fish. Pattern here.

Ellie the Elephant. Pattern here.

Todd the turtle. Pattern here.

What happened to your ear?

SH had Friday off since the University was closed for spring break. He ended up going to the off-campus office to work with the work-study student. I didn't think anything of it until after 5:30, SH should have called or at least been home by then. I called him several times with no answer. It got to be about 6:30 and still no word. The office is only a few miles from the house and I decided to drive over there. I thought he may have fallen asleep since he is still adjusting to a new prescription. I ended up passing him on a back road. I called his cell phone. When he answered, he was not really coherent, but I thought he just woke up and was groggy. He said something about his ear, but I had no idea what he meant. When we got home, SH asked me if his ear was ok. When I looked, his ear had a horizontal split on the outer edge and was swelling. He had blood all over his face and hands. I told him that his ear was not ok and he was going to the emergency room. He did not want to go but I insisted. I tried to get him to the truck, he stumbled and staggered and eventually got in. His eyes rolled back into his head a few times as he told me he was ok and didn't need to go to the hospital. I told him he was going period.

At the ER, they did a catscan and bloodwork. They did absolutely nothing to his cut ear, not even clean it up!!! After waiting for a few hours, I decided to drive over to the lab where he hurt himself to see if I could CSI the scene. We were both under the assumption that there would be blood puddles and likely SH's broken glasses. When I got there, things looked normal. I found one dried drop of blood near the door. I found his new glasses on a chair and they were fine. I couldn't figure out what on earth happened to give him a split ear. I returned to the hospital with his glasses, which he was happy to know made it through ok.

After waiting a few hours, they told us the results of both tests. Catscan was clear, bloodwork......... alcohol level was .24. WHAT!!!????

The doctor said that it was possible that the medication SH is taking may be slowing down his metabolism of alcohol. SH had several drinks the day before and one drink Friday at lunch. He was not drunk when he left the house early that afternoon. I wouldn't have let him!!

The only thing we can figure out is that the work study student left around 4:15. Apparently SH was closing up and getting ready to leave himself. Something happened to cause SH to fall/trip/stumble/pass out and he likely split his ear on the flooring tiles. We don't know exactly what time this happened, but it was sometime after 4:15. I tried calling him 4 times and sent him a text message until 6:30, so he could have been out for almost 2 hours. Then when he finally woke up, he drove home. He has no memory of the accident itself, driving home, arriving home or getting in the truck to go to the hospital. I can't believe he actually made it home safely, now knowing that he was actually drunk.

Needless to say, he is going to stop taking that medication. If it causes things like this to happen, he doesn't need to be on it. He also says he doesn't feel like himself and has a hard time remembering things.

That certainly made for a scary Friday evening.

Mini VaKay and a few newbies

SH and I did a bit of work out of town at the end of last week, then made a side trip to visit some friends. We haven't seen them in almost a year and a lot has gone on in their lives. It was great to catch up. We also managed to eat like pigs! Everyone knows that there are no diets on vacation.

I finished up a few more crochet pieces, but since several are presents, I can't show them all.

This adorable halter top is for a friend's daughter who will be celebrating her 8th birthday next month. Nothing like starting a present early!! I saw the pattern and knew she would love it. You can find it here. I love the colors!!

This sweater will be going to my husbands cousin who is expecting a little girl soon. I figured that since I been making stuff for every other pregnant person on the planet, she should get some things too!! This pattern can be found here. (about halfway down the page)

I finished a shawl for myself but it is so large I haven't taken a photo of it yet. Maybe I will get SH to help with that.

I have an interview at the end of the month for a state job and am expecting a call for another job as a leasing agent. I am not holding my breath, but am still hopeful. I don't know how much longer I can be a SAHW and not be pulling in a paycheck!

Mo' baby stuff!!!

Lordy, the last 12 months have been the most baby-having 12 months in my life! It seems like almost everyone I know is having or has just had a baby. I finally finished most of the baby goodies and am working on a shawl for ME!!! Here are pics of the most recently finished pieces. These are for SH's cousin's baby. Now I hear you saying "Wait, I saw that one a few weeks ago?!?" It isn't. I did a second set with the leftover yarn from the first set. The stripe pattern is different on the second version. I had no idea how far those 3 5 oz. skeins of yarn would go! I still have some in the purple and white left over!! I even did the braid as shown in the instructions. The first few blanket I simply finished with 3 rows of sc.



I.love.this.blanket. I used a pattern I have done before but it looked so boring. Nothing jazzes up a blanket like a few rows of super soft fuschia yarn and a GIANT bloom in shades of pink. :)


That is all the new baby stuff. I have spent the last week working on my shawl. I had no idea how long it would take to complete. I think I am about 75% done. The pattern was kinda difficult to get started, the instructions were a little unclear and inconsistent, but I have tweaked them to make it work. It will be so very pretty. Pics to come soon.

Saw a cool movie the other night...The Invisible. I swear the main character looks familiar. I IMDB'd him but he hasn't been in anything significant. I really liked this movie. It was done by some fo the same people who worked on The Sixth Sense. This one is about death and the line between life and death. It left me a little confused about some things, but most good movies do.

Baby Blankets Galore

I have busy making baby blankets for several mommies and mommies to be. I can't post pics of all of them since some are surprises, but I will share the others. I also have a few more in the planning stages. Here goes.

First, Etta's stroller set. The colors remind me of Neopolitan ice cream....chocolate brown, strawberry pink and vanilla white. YUM.

Next is Connor's "Big Boy" blanket. I made him a baby blanket when he was born. He will be able to "grow into" this one.

Last isn't a baby blanket, it is a shawl made for the most adorable 6 year old I know. I used an adult pattern and shortened it to about 3/4 of the length. I also added braided ties so little Miss Rambunctious will be able to keep it on.

Mobile

The SH and I made a trip to Mobile last week. We were doing some field work nearby and decided to spend the rest of our time in Mobile. A friend told us about the Riverview Renaissance Hotel downtown and we decided to stay there. Boy howdy was it posh! We both felt completely out of place when we arrived in our dirty field clothes. This hotel is geared to the business suit crowd, but was so beautiful and comfortable. If you have the chance and the cash, the Riverview is a beautiful hotel within walking distance of lots of fun stuff. That afternoon, we made the long walk (maybe 50 steps) over to the Mobile Exploreum to check out the exhibit "Our Body". It has been in the news for several years and was amazing. To read more about the exhibit, follow the Exploreum link. It may be too graphic for some. We decided to make the trek to Wintzells Oyster House for dinner. We have heard nothing but good things about it and it has even been featured on the food channel. It was definately worth the walk!! Good thing we had a nice walk back to the hotel to burn off some extra calories!! The trip, although work related, was a much needed break for us.

Ho Hum

After a long month of battling with the Unemployment people, my claim to collect unemployment was denied. I was so very angry and upset about it. I don't want to dwell on it, it makes me even angrier. I don't have enough bad words in my vocabulary to say exactly how I feel about the staff at Montgomery Eye Physicians. I will NEVER recommend them to anyone seeking ophthalmic/optometric help. I feel they are more worried about the almighty dollar than their staff or patients. Rant over. :)

I had a second interview for a job here in town, but they found someone better suited. I am not mad, if they thought someone else was a better match, no problem.

On a brighter note, I finished our taxes and we will be getting a nice refund. YAY!!! Bills can get paid off!!! I have also started a new crochet project. A friend's son was gifted with a baby blanket from me when he was born and he is now getting a Big Boy Blanket that he will be able to grow into. I was told that the original blanket is his Woobie. I was so very excited to hear that. The father says the blanket goes EVERYWHERE the baby does. For the new blanket, SH picked out the colors, Crimson and White for a favorite football team. The baby's mom won't like it since she is a fan of other team colors. Oh well.

Here is a recipe I found a few months ago and we absolutely LOVE IT.

Veggie Pizza

Y.U.M.

1 (8 oz.) & 1 (4 oz.) crescent rolls

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, room temperature

1 c. mayonnaise

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. dill weed

Mix cream cheese, mayo, garlic powder, onion powder and dill weed until thoroughly combined. Press rolls in an 11 x 13 inch cookie sheet to form one large crust and bake until done or golden brown. Cool thoroughly. Top with cream cheese mixture, spreading evenly. Top with diced veggies, pressed on cheese. I used finely chopped cauliflower, broccoli, green peppers, roasted corn and carrots. Use whatever veggies you like. Refrigerate overnight for best flavor.

Baby Stuff Pics!

Here are two of the items I have finished for the fetus to be! This first is a stroller/hat set. I think the colors are fairly unisex. The blankie has a neat slit in it so a carseat seatbelt will fit through it. The pattern was from one of my favorite books: Stitch N' Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker. I am working on two other versions of the same blanket pattern, just in different colors. The little hat is so freaking adorable!


This was the ripple blanket on day one. It has since been finished and is so very pretty. When I started I was a little worried about the turquoise color being too loud, but I think it looks great with the chocolate brown.

Oh Baby!!

I found out earlier in the week that a dear friend of mine is expecting! I told her before she got knocked up that whenever she was with child, I would make her whatever she wanted. She has requested blankets. I had previously started a Hooded Blanket and finally found the yarn I needed and finished it this afternoon. I also have made a Afghan and Hat set that are ADORABLE. The blanket has a hole in it so it can be attached to a car seat. Too cool. I am currently working on a rippled blanket and have a few more ideas up my sleeve. I don't know whether or not to post pics. Mommy-to-be, do you want to see your baby items or do you want them to be surprises?

I finally applied for unemployment last week. I really should have done this ages ago but I seriously thought I would have a job by now. I should know in another week or so if they will accept my application.

I am still working out like a madwoman. I am doing at least 30 minutes on the treadmill 5 days a week and 20-40 minutes of cardio/yoga/pilates 5 days a week. WHEW. I have only lost 3 lbs. but I guess you have to start somewhere. must.keep.at.it.

We get to puppy-sit this weekend!! Disco is super excited about having a playmate. We will be keeping a friends puppy while they are in Florida at DisneyWorld. I only hope Baraka doesn't think we are adding another dog to our family. He had such a hard time when we got his sister!!